Question from the Classic and Vintage Bicycle Community

A visitor to this blog just wrote me and I told him that I'd post his question on this site as well as the Vintage Racing Bicycles Facebook page. Here's his question:

Vintage Racing bicycles,
 
I have a Masi GC 1980s and notice that the vertical stiffness of the frame while riding is noticeably stiffer than other frames in my collection. 
 
Because of this charcteristic, I had the rake of the fork increased by Ed Litton.  There is some improvement but very slight.  

Wondering if other Masi GC owners with frames of this era experience the same ride.
 
Best Regards,
[visitor]

If anyone has an answer, please leave a comment below. Thank you!

Tom

Bicycle Books

Been collecting bicycle books for a few years and have about 40 of them now. These are the latest - thanks to my lovely wife, Elizabeth, for getting these for me for Christmas. :)

There are many out-of-print, very interesting bicycle books out there to be found. Look on Amazon in their "Marketplace" for good-quality used bike books. eBay is also a good place to look. My favorite place to find them though is at bicycle swap meets. Here you can often bundle items together to get great deals on books and bike parts. 

Check eBay and grab an entire year of Bicycling Magazine from the 70s or 80s; then travel back in time with great articles and classic advertisements. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Just wanted to take a quick second to wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a wonderful, healthy, and happy 2013. 

Warmest wishes,

Tom

VintageRacingBicycles.com

Vintage Bicycle Swap - Long Beach, CA

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the first bicycle swap sponsored by The Bicycle Stand in Long Beach, CA. The swap was held on a vacant lot adjacent to the shop. It was great to see many local CR List members there, and spend some time talking about our favorite hobby. 

We're hoping that there will be another one of these in a month or two; so watch this space for news.

Plenty more photos HERE. 

1976 - 1979 NY Bicycle Show Photos

Found a link to photos of the New York Bicycle Show (1976 - 1979) on BikeForums.net so please leave a comment if the link becomes broken. 

The photos are not mine; they belong to a Flickr user. 

Great memories of a time when friction shifting and steel ruled the roads. 

Click HERE for the pics. Enjoy!

A Bicycle Built for Two

My daughter went with me to buy this Gitane tandem a month ago. When she first tried sitting on the stoker seat the bike seemed much too big for her. The seat was pushed down as far as I thought it could go, but her feet couldn't reach the pedals at the bottom of each stroke. I figured it would take a year before she could ride it safely, but yesterday I backed the bike out of the garage and, with my trusty 12mm socket in hand, set out to make certain that her seat was indeed at its lowest point.

Turns out there was another inch of seat post hidden under the lip of the seat that I didn't see before. Who woulda thunk? Could this extra inch plus a month of growing be enough to get my 10-year-old and me out on the bike together? 

Sure enough! She has to point her toes down on the bottom of the pedal strokes, but they're staying on the pedals! We had a terrific 20 minute ride on the streets around my neighborhood and can't wait for next weekend to do it again. It was wonderful to ride with her. We could talk without yelling and carry on a conversation while outside in the sunshine getting exercise. 

I saw a Santana Sovereign on our local CraigsList today that made me drool. The seller is only asking $795 for it and it's in superb shape with only a few minor scratches. I'll betcha he'll let it go for $650! Even comes with three new spare tires. The size for the front and rear are roughly the same as my Gitane, but really...who needs TWO tandems? I'm asking this to the wrong audience, aren't I? That's what I was afraid of. :)

Until next time...

Bicycle Theft - Punishment Does Not Meet the Crime

I found this article and this video very eye-opening. The video show how easy it can be for a bicycle thief to steal a bike, even with several witnesses. People simply don't stop. I'm assuming people don't want to get involved with criminals, and there may be some who assume that the person cutting the lock is the owner who simply forgot his key. 

Even when thieves do get caught, the penalty is minimal. Scary stuff.

I've only had one bicycle stolen, and that was 35 years ago. 

Have you ever had one stolen?